Mizuha (Renatus)

This Totoblue work, expressing a sacred blue cosmos, 
was commissioned by the owner and selected as a monumental 20-meter-long artwork for the Phoenix Staircase entrance — a space symbolizing the concept of Espacio Nagoya Castle.

Created under the theme of “Rinpo-Kiryu” — the sacred creatures of the phoenix, tortoise, and dragon — this work was born from a prayer to awaken the divine within a world that has forgotten the presence of the sacred, and to offer a blue prayer for peace across the world.

The phoenix, a symbol of beauty and the divine, is believed to connect heaven and earth. 
It is said that wherever the phoenix appears, peace and prosperity will follow. 
Along a radiant path shimmering in gold and silver, the phoenix eventually emerges and takes flight, expressing a legend and a vision for the future peace and tranquility of our world.

Continuity within discontinuity… 
What may at first appear irregular or fragmented gradually forms rhythm through repetition, revealing beauty from a greater perspective. 
The beauty of light and shadow, the beauty of emptiness, fluctuation, traces, unseen presence—these embody the essence of Japanese aesthetics. 
I believe that the highest beauty resides in the subtle presence carried within imperfection and asymmetry. 
Through pattern, which carries the decorative DNA of the Japanese spirit, this work seeks to create a new poetic dimension.

Combining the Western technique of pointillism with the Eastern technique of tarashikomi, 
the deep blue in this work emerges through my unique method called “Shifuku-zuri,” in which pigments are applied thousands and tens of thousands of times using my own fingers.

Within this blue, concentric circles symbolizing the cycle of life, death, and rebirth are expressed as luminous waves of flowing energy.

This work brings a new expression to the thousand-year tradition of karakami culture. 
Transcending the boundary between craft and fine art, it reaches a painterly horizon of contemporary art—an innovative embodiment of “Shu-Ha-Ri,” the philosophy of preserving tradition while breaking through and transforming it into something new.

Oct 2025
Karakami Artist
Choemon Senda